An Easy Way to Receive Medical Services

Medical bills are one of the main reasons Americans file for bankruptcy. Many Americans opt out of buying health insurance due to the high premiums and co-payments. This can have a ripple effect on individuals and families.

Americans who do not have health insurance are generally not in good health, don't have a retirement account or disability insurance and can never afford to take off work to go for a doctor's visit. The U.S. spends the most on healthcare than any other country yet Americans are the most unhealthy people in the world. Forty-six million Americans are uninsured and this number continues to grow as the unemployment rate continues to soar.

Many Americans struggle for years trying to pay off high cost medical debt due to lack of health insurance or inadequate health insurance coverage. When a patient has health insurance there is a set limit that hospitals, doctors and other medical professionals can charge for services. Without medical insurance, a patient can be charged a higher amount for services and in some cases are charged multiple times for the same services.

If you do not have health insurance always ask for an itemized list of the services you received and make sure there are no duplicates. When you have health insurance many errors made in medical bills are caught by your health insurance provider and corrected before any remaining costs are submitted to the patient. Having health insurance also reduces the chances of patients receiving medical billing errors.

A unique way to pay back medical bills is to barter services. An increase in bartering for health care services has dramatically increased since the beginning of the recession. One company, ITEX Corp. has 24,000 members and promote approximately $1 million a month in health care bartering. Patients can exchange medical good and services for barter dollars but is usually limited to specific medical industries like dental or smaller doctor practices. These dollars can be used to pay for health care costs by a provider who belongs to the network.

There are approximately 400 exchanges in the United States. The barternews.com site provides listing by state. The networks charge membership and transaction fees. Here are 3 ways to ensure you are using a valid medical service provider when bartering for medical services:

1. Do research. Verify the medical provider is licensed.

2. Verify the agreement. Verify the agreement you establish with the medical provider in writing and make sure you understand the terms of the agreement.

3. Give back. Refer your medical provider to others on the network or by word of mouth to friends, relatives and co-workers, this can help you negotiate future services needed by the same medical provider.